You feel her pure heart through her good intentions
You assume all is right and perfect in her life
You may even envy her
But what you don't see is what she's been through
Her invisible scars
The wiped away tears
The blood and sweat she's cleaned up trying to escape
A strong a woman isn't made from the finer more pleasant things in life
A strong woman is molded by her pain
By her struggle
By her courage
And by her will to say no more
By her will to fight back
A strong woman knows the highest level of vulnerability
She knows humiliation
She knows the feeling of defeat
She tells a story through her eyes
Down deep into her soul
She remembers just how the air smelt
The way the ground felt beneath her
The sound of her deafening heartbreak
All when she tried to lift herself off the ground
A strong woman knows what it's like to get knocked down
And get knocked down again
To have the air taken from your body
To grasp desperately for help
She tells a story through her eyes.
You see the smiles on her exterior
You feel her pure heart through her good intentions
You assume all is right and perfect in her life
You may even envy her
But what you don't see is what she's been through
What a Strong Woman Knows...
This is written for any woman who has experienced struggle, heartache, defeat or any circumstance alike. Violence, Bullying, Addiction, Loss of a Loved One. The list goes on and on. This is to let you know there is always a light and you can overcome
1 out of every 4 women will be a victim of Domestic Violence.
I am that 1 out of 4 women. In 2006 I was made a part of a statistic.
I
really can't speak for other women who have been victimized by domestic
violence, but I did learn that your can never say never. Your future is
truly unpredictable.
I grew up being a fighter. Didn't really have a problem sticking up
for myself. I grew up with a big brother and played with the boys. My
father taught me to be tough. He raised me to be the best in man's world
and a competitor in a woman's world. If you would have asked me if I'd
ever thought I'd be a victim of domestic violence, I would have laughed
at possibility. Little did I know a man I met in 2003, who became my
husband in 2004, would be the person who would effect the rest of my
life, and needless to say, in the worst way ever. He literally created
my living nightmare.
From the conversations I've had with other women, I frequently find
that their attackers had no prior indications of violence. They just one
day clicked. In their defense, I will say most often if you've never
experienced domestic violence you wouldn't know what signs to look for.
For starters, I was pressured into getting married way too young. I
knew I cared for him at the time, but had I not been pressured by his
family I certainly wouldn't have subjected myself to marriage at the age
of 19. You hardly know yourself at 19 much less know anything about
marriage. Now don't think for a minute that I don't believe in love at a
young age. I know a number of couples with that "old love". You know
the ones that had love at first sight and have been madly in love since
they were 14. :)
Let's just say this was nothing like that. I married a boy who made me
laugh. He was amazing at math. Silly, but off of that I thought he was
intelligent. That's it. There was really nothing more to him. Boy, could
I have made a worse interpretation? We met in October of 2003. Little
did I know he had just been released from a hospital for attempting to
commit suicide because his ex-girlfriend was too busy to talk to him.
That very same month!!! All because she wouldn't pay attention to him.
Of course, I didn't find out that happened until much much later. During
the time we were involved, I noticed he had scars all over his upper
chest and arms, but it was one of those uncomfortable things you'd
rather not ask about, ya know? Awkward. This is officially red flag #1. So while we're seeing each other off and on, in January of 2004 he
gets arrested for what he tells me was nothing more than an argument
with an ex-girlfriend whom he claims was upset because he told her he
couldn't see her anymore because he was involved with me. Claiming she
was a "jealous ex-girlfriend". Why wouldn't I believe it? Well, at that
time I had no reason not to. Not to mention his family was very
convincing. So, being supportive, I go visit him at the jail from time
to time throughout those few weeks. Longer than usual stay in jail?
Yeah, this was definitely red flag #2.
In March of 2004, two weeks after we are married he tells me he has
"a little court date". For the record: Why did I marry him after all
that? I can only claim temporary insanity. So, back to my story. I come
to find out that the reason for this hearing is for the case with the
ex-girlfriend. A couple days before the hearing his family asks me if
I'll call his ex-ex-girlfriend to see if she's change her story and
testify he didn't do what he did to her. I didn't know what the story
was behind that, but in a nut shell, him and his family explained it as
nothing more than a good guy with bad luck. They even asked me if I was
another who was just going to call the police on him again. YUP, you
guessed it. Red flag #3. So I call the girl, ironically enough, she was
someone I knew. A roommate of a friend from college. She was appalled
that I even called to ask what he and his family requested of her. She
told me to stay away from him and he was extremely dangerous. Red flag
#4. By now you can assume they had an excuse for her statement also.
"Jealous ex-girlfriend", etc etc etc. Did that change my mind about him?
Can we say idiot? Can we say naive? On the day of the hearing he asks me to tell the judge I'm pregnant
so she'll take that into consideration on his consequence. I was left
uninformed and absolutely clueless to the charges he was facing and the
reality of the matter of the hearing. His ex-girlfriend testified he has
stole her car keys and when she attempted to get them back he slammed
her head against the refrigerator. Red flag #5. Then I learned he had
pending charges from the case prior to this which he said were
dismissed. The judge announces, "You are sentenced to 2 years in
prison". JUST TWO WEEKS AFTER WE WERE MARRIED. Red flag #6 I guess I stayed with him because I felt sorry for him. Why? Who
knows. The idiotic things you do when you're young. I can shamefully
take the crown.
Who am I? You can call me DeLaFonte, Katrina DeLaFonte. LOL
I am the creator and owner of the LoveMomStyle Network. What
better way to understand a business than to understand the creator behind it.
I'm from a small town based in Northern Arizona, but I've always been a city
girl at heart. I'm an 80's baby! I grew
up as a tomboy in a dress. I always had a love for fashion and performing,
glitz and glamour while playing football in my sparkly dress shoes! I
will be the first to tell you that growing up in a small town was not easy. I feel like due to my lack of "all things girly"
and not being a "follower" these created issues for me. While some
girls we busy being boy crazy, I was busy playing with the boys. When your
group of "friends" didn't like someone, you were expected to feel the
same. I didn't live by those rules. I experienced being bullied and at times it
was more than I could handle. On the other hand, I was also a tough little tot
who had a little habit of fighting the boys. Sometimes we make the mistake of
being nice to the wrong people. I was worried about trying to be a "good
friend" and taking what I didn't deserve instead of standing up to the
kids I should have stood up to. Life can be so confusing at that phase of your
life. Many people really have no clue how far bullying can push a person. The
experience changed my life forever.
Growing up, my Hero was my Mom. She's always been the light in the
darkness, my life-line and still to this day, my very best friend. I was raised
in a stable home where my parents taught us, my brother and I, morals and
values which I truly believe influenced the direction I've taken in my life
today. I will admit life wasn't all peaches and pie. There were times I
struggled to find myself. I'm multiracial. Though I had several different
groups of friends, I never felt like I completely fit in. Either I wasn't
Latina enough or I wasn't White enough. Beyond friends and family, my passions
consisted of athletics. I played it all, basketball, soccer, tennis, cheer-leading
even bowling! LOL I loved cheer most of all! I was raised in church from only 2
weeks old and I've grown with God in my life every since. Though I have faced
struggles within the politics of the church, my faith is stronger now than it's
ever been.
Let's fast-forward a decade or so... I started modeling as a
teenager. I loved it so much I kept at it for another 10, almost 15 years! My
family will be the first to admit I have been a HAM since birth! Love the
camera! Love to perform! Dancing has ALWAYS been great love of mine also! I
choreographed for fun and for cheer as a child and grew into making a living at
it. In addition to modeling and choreography, I took up hosting. I had the
honor of being a host for the 2009 4th Annual BrittiCares 5k Walk Run
supporting a beautiful young girl who lost her fight against cancer, a truly
humbling experience. After many main events and unique encounters, I took a
break from hosting when I was offered an opportunity to try my hand at acting
professionally. As much as I loved to perform growing up, for some reason or
another acting just didn't appeal to me. Well, that's what I thought at least.
:) As I started getting hired for various commercials I found my nich and more
so than ever, I found my passion! Commercials turned into television,
television into movies and believe it or not, movies into screenwriting. I
guess my love for english in school paid off. I wrote my first script along
side my husband start to finish in 2010. Since then we've wrote many films and
tv shows. It's truly been an amazing journey.
Throughout all of these adventures, I began a career as a dental
professional at the age of seventeen. My nine year career certainly had it's
pros and cons, but most of all I loved my patients. Helping, supporting and
caring for others had always been something I loved. Being able to help someone
selflessly is truly one of the best feelings you will ever have the pleasure of
encountering. For this reason, a big reason, is one of the reasons I started
Love MomStyle. I'll give you the skinny on more of that in my next entry ;).
Now to the biggest, most brightest aspect of my life, My Babies. I
gave birth to a handsome baby boy in May of 2006 after being married in 2004,
my biggest mistake blessed me with my most prized possession, my baby boy. My
downfall? I married a boy who never grew into a man when I was only 19 years
old. Manipulated into getting married so young. Just two weeks after we were
married, we went to a court hearing he had previously scheduled and BAM, he was
sentenced to two years in prison. I had no knowledge of the severity of his
charges. He always had a way of sugar coating things. Master manipulator and
mama's boy to the T! What followed? A beautiful baby boy, infidelity, drugs,
domestic violence, child abuse and much much more. Who knew I would have been
married to a five time convicted felon?! After only a two year marriage, I
escaped safely with my son. A couple years later, I met my best friend, now
love of my life. We welcomed our gorgeous little baby girl in September of
2011.
Nothing can prepare you for the joy, the heartache, the work and
the payoff motherhood brings into the ratio. It's such an amazingly rewarding
and challenging roller coaster and I can't help, but love every minute of it.
Even through the struggles, I wouldn't change anything for the world. One
opinion that drives me nuts is people using their children to hinder them from
achieving their dreams and goals. I will tell you that if anything, I worked
harder, I became stronger and I achieved more with my babies and for my
babies than without. Some may call me stubborn, and yes, I'll admit to it, just
a little, but I am more ambitious and focused more than anything. The
mentality, "You can't attend college with a family." I proved them
wrong. "You can't live the fame life and be a good parent." I proved
them wrong. "You can't be everything your heart desires, there's just no
way to juggle everything." Yes, I proved that assumption wrong also.
God has blessed me with an amazing man who is an amazing father
and who cares so deeply for people, most of all, me. Ladies, you deserve to be
spoiled and treated like a queen. Never let anyone tell you different. I juggle
my family and my career. I won't pretend it's not a lot of work. Some nights I
just want to pull my hair out, but even then I wouldn't change a single thing
in my life. I'm happy. I'm humbled and I'm so sincerely grateful for the life
that has unfolded before me. Had I not suffered through my struggles and diversities,
I wouldn't be the women I am today. True success is only seen through the eyes
of the beholder and you are only as successful as you allow yourself to be. I
hope this gives you a little insight into who LoveMomStyle is and I hope you
stay with us as we carry on this journey called life <3
You see the smiles on her exterior
By her courage 
The way the ground felt beneath her
What a Strong Woman Knows... 
